Railway car construction



1966 J. B. CUNNINGHAM RAILWAY CAR CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledNov. 23, 1,964

IN VENTOR.

JAMES B. CZ/NA/M G/IAM BY Z ATTORNEYS Nov. 22, 1966 J B. CUNNINGHAM3,286,659

RAILWAY GAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 23, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W? [ZyzwATTORIV 5 United States Patent 3,286,659 RAILWAY CAR CONSTRUCTION JamesB. Cunningham, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to General Steel Industries,Inc., Granite City, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 23, 1964,Ser. No. 413,084

4 Claims. (Cl. 105-420) The invention relates to railway rolling stockand consists particularly in an improved cushioned underframe structureof the sliding center sill type.

In conventional cushioned underframes of the sliding center sill type,the sliding sill is supported in the underframe a substantial distanceinwardly from the end of the underfrarne, usually at the body bolster,and is not supported outwardly thereof, as at the end sill, principallybecause any supports outward of the body bolster might interfere withthe draft gear mounted in the end of the sliding sill when the slidingsill is in its innermost or full buff position. With the sill thussupported from the underframe substantially inwardly from the end of thesliding sill, after the cushion gear closes and the sill striker engagesthe stop on the end of the underframe the vertical force which tends tomove the struck end of a car downwardly produces a bending moment on thesliding sill which is the product of that vertical force and the armthrough which it acts on the center sill; i.e., the distance from itspoint of application at the end sill to the point of support of thecenter sill on the underframe, usually at the body bolster. This tendsto bend the struck end of the sliding center sill downwardly, and toincrease the load on and consequently the frictional resistance of thesliding supports of the center sill at the bolster.

It is accordingly a principal object of the invention to provide acushioned underfrarne of the sliding center sill type in which thesliding sill is supported from the underframe at the end sill when fullyretracted so as to reduce the bending moment on the sliding sill andprovide cooperation between the underframe and the sliding sill inresisting vertical bending moments.

A further object is to provide a sliding sill type cushioned underframewith readily accessible supports for the sliding sill, whereby wearplates thereon may be inspected, removed and replaced withoutdifficulty.

The foregoing and additional more detailed objects and advantages willbe apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a railway flat car, taken alongthe longitudinal center line.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view, partially sectionalized, of one endportion of the car illustrated in FIG. 1, taken along line 22 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are transverse vertical sectional views along lines 44,55 and 6-6, respectively of FIG. 2.

The underframe comprises a fixed longitudinally extending center sill 1,side sills 3 spaced transversely outwardly of center sill 1 at each sidethereof, and end sills 5, body bolsters 7, and cross bearers 9 and 10,all forming rigid connections between center sill 1 and side sills 3,preferably constituting, with the latter parts, a onepiece steelcasting. From sill 5 to a point longitudinally outward of body bolster7, fixed center sill 1 is of bat section, i.e., of inverted channelsection with top wall 11 and side walls 13, across the body bolsterintersection and to a point longitudinally inwardly therefrom it is ofgenerally box section with a bottom wall 15; longitudinally inwardlythereof it is of the spread type, comprising a pair of transverselyspaced generally Z-section members, whose webs are the extended sidewalls 13, with their up- "ice per flanges 17 mainly directedtransversely outwardly and their inner flanges 19 directed transverselyinwardly, the latter being a split extension of bottom wall 15. Thecenter sill is of the fish belly type between body bolsters 7, with thedepth of side walls 13 increasing from a point intermediate bodybolsters 7 and cross bearers 9 to a maximum depth at cross bearers 10,between which their depth is constant. At the bolster intersectionbottom wall 15 is formed with a downwardly facing center plate 21 andforwardly and rearwardly thereof with longitudinally spaced pairs ofdepending transversely extending reinforcing ribs 23. Additionalresistance to vertical bending of the sill at the center plate isprovided by an inverted longitudinally extending channel 25 on the uppersurface of bottom wall 15 between forward and rear reinforcing ribs23,-channel 25 and bottom wall 15 combining to form a strong box sectioncompression member for the sill in this critical region.

End sill 5 is of channel cross section, with upright web 27, andinwardly directed top and bottom flanges 29 and 31, top flange 29merging with center sill top wall 11. Web 27 is interrupted, except forits upper marginal portion 33 between center sill side walls 13, withwhich it angularly merges, and is formed with slope sided dependingextensions 35 on both sides of the center sill, end sill bottom wallbeing correspondingly depressed and merging at their inner ends with thedepending end portions of center sill side walls 13. To compensate forthe center sill opening in the end sill, a cast tie bar 37 of invertedchannel cross section, with upwardly facing slope sided pockets adaptedto wedgingly receive end sill projections 35 is removably secured bybolts 41 to the latter in wedging engagement therewith, thus forming acompression chord for the end sill.

For preventing the direct application of high bufling loads to theunderframe and lading, elongated draft sill 43 is slidably receivedwithin fixed center sill 1, with its ends protruding from the ends ofthe latter sufliciently to permit substantial relative longitudinalmovement. Draft sill 43 is of the usual A.A.R. hat section, con structedof two rolled Zs, with their webs vertical to form side walls 45 andtheir upper flanges directed inwardly toward each other and butt weldedto each other along their inner abutting edges to form top wall 47, andwith their lower flanges 49 directed transversely outwardly.

Whereas in conventional cushioned underframes, the draft sill isfrequently slidably supported at the bolstercenter sill intersection,with the result that inspection, removal, and replacement of supportingwear plates is difficult, if not impossible, according to the presentinvention the draft sill supporting wear plates are positioned for'easyaccess and increased effectiveness. In order to leave the bottom ofdraft sill 43 adjacent its ends free and clear for the application ofdraft gear and coupler supporting plates, keys and the like, the centersill side walls 13, between the bolster and the adjacent end sillterminate above the draft sill flanges 49, and are provided along theirlower edges with horizontal double flanges 51, partially overlying, butspaced above the bottom flanges of the draft sill. Flanges 51 mountrenewable upwardly facing wear plates 53, and to the outer surfaces ofdraft sill side walls are secured longitudinally extending anglesectionmembers 55, overlying center sill flanges 51 and provided withdownwardly facing renewable wear plates 57 in slidable engagement withupwardly facing wear plates 53.

Additional sliding supports for the draft sill are provided in thespread portion of the center sill, as for example, by means ofupstanding bosses 59 on spread center sill flanges 19. Bosses 59 mountrenewable upwardly facing wear plates 61 on their upper surfaces anddraft sill flanges mount cooperating downwardly facing wear I 3 plates63 on their lower surfaces in slidable engagement with wear plates 61.

Movements imparted to draft sill 43 by buff and draft forces arecushioned from the underframe, by a cushion device C of any desiredtype, which may be related to the underframe and draft sill in knownmanner, to permit their relative movement lengthwise of the car.

The end portions of draft sill 43 are provided with the usual draft lugs65 forming pockets for draft gear 67, which is surrounded by the usualyoke 69, to which is pivotally attached the shank 71 of coupler 73. Astriker casting providing vertical striker surface 75 and couplercarrier pocket 77 forms the coupler mounting mouth of the draft sill,striker surface 75 being engageable with the rear vertical surface ofcoupler horn 79 to limit movement of the coupler relative to the draftsill resulting from buffing forces.

For limiting movements of draft sill 43 lengthwise of underframe centersill 1, caused by the application of bulling forces to couplers 73, thestriker castings are formed with a 'rearwardly facing sill stop surface81, which is engageable with the central portion 33 of end sill web 27,surfaces 81 and of end sill Web portion 33 both slop 1 wardlylongitudinally of said underframe, said draft sill having acorrespondingly sloping surface outwardly of and in opposing normallyspaced relation with said underframe surface, said underframe and draftsill surfaces being adapted for engagement when said draft sill moves apredetermined distance lengthwise of said underframe.

2. In a railway vehicle according to claim 1, a coupler mounted in theend portion of said draft sill for movement lengthwise thereof andprojecting longitudinally outwardly of the end thereof, said coupler anddraft sill having normally spaced apart surfaces in opposing relationlengthwise of the sill and adapted for engagement when said couplermoves inwardly a predetermined distance lengthwise of said sill.

3. In a railway vehicle according to claim 1, said sloping underframeend surface extending over said draft sill, said draft sill mounting astriker casting at its end,

,, said striker casting having a portion extending above ing centersill, said center sill comprising spaced apart ing upwardly and.inwardly, at an angle of about 60 from the horizontal, lengthwise of theunderframe, so that when, under maximum buff load, surfaces 81 and 33be-. come engaged, and coupler horn 79 engages striker surface 75, thetendency of the but-ling load to bend draft sill 43 downwardly will beresisted not only by the draft sill but also by the greater verticalstrength of the underframe, due to the underlying engagement of stopsurfaces 33 with surface 81. Sloping central web portion 33 isreinforced by a horizontal bottom inwardly directed flange 83, whichmerges at its ends with center sill side walls 13, and is furtherreinforced by gussets 85, spread apart transversely and extendinglengthwise of the sill, which merge with top wall 11, web portion 33,and flange 83. This will also tend to reduce the load on the draft sillsupporting Wear plates when the limit of draft sill movement is thusreached, facilitating return to draft sill 43 to its normal centeredposition lengthwise of the underframe by the usual return springmechanism which may be incorporated in cushioning device C, but whichforms no part of the present invention and is not separately disclosed.

As various changes could be made in the above construction withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention it is intended that all mattercontained. in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense, and the exclusive use of modifications coming within the scope ofthe appended claims is accordingly contemplated.

What is claimed is:

' 1. In a railway vehicle, an underframe, an elongated draft sill, meansspaced inwardly from the ends of said underframe and supporting saiddraft sill in said underframe for movement lengthwise therein with anend portion of said draft sill normally projecting outwardly from theend of said underframe, an end surface ofsaid underfrarne adjacent saiddraft sill sloping upwardly and inhorizontal wall means whereby tofacilitate inspection and renewal of said surfaces, said center sillsides having transversely inwardly extending flanges, said upwardlyfacing surfaces being formed on said flanges, said draft sill havingoutwardly extending flanges overlying said center sill inwardlyextending flanges, said separate horizontal wall means being also spacedfrom the ends of said center sill to form body bolster bottom walls,said center sill sides terminating above said draft sill flanges in theregion between said horizontal wall means and the end of said centersill, with their inwardlyextending References Cited by the ExaminerUNITED STATES PATENTS 1,044,818 11/1912 Pulliam -42l 3,168,201 2/1965Smith et al. 2138 3,205,835 9/1965 Peterson 105368 3,220,561 1l/1965Blake 213-8 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner. DRAYTQN E. HOFFMAN,Examiner,

1. IN A RAILWAY VEHICLE, AN UNDERFRAME, AN ELONGATED DRAFT SILL, MEANSSPACED INWARDLY FROM THE ENDS OF SAID UNDERFRAME AND SUPPORTING SAIDDRAFT SILL IN SAID UNDERFRAME FOR MOVEMENT LENGTHWISE THEREIN WITH ANEND PORTION OF SAID DRAFT SILL NORMALLY PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM THEEND OF SAID UNDERFRAME, AN END SURFACE OF SAID UNDERFRAME ADJACENT SAIDDRAFT SILL SLOPING UPWARDLY AND INWARDLY LONGITUDINALLY OF SAIDUNDERFRAME, SAID DRAFT SILL HAVING A CORRESPONDINGLY SLOPING SURFACEOUTWARDLY OF